3 Pinays on Top of the World! Kaya ng Pinay!

My boss just asked me if I have read the news. He told me the 3 Pinay climbers already reached the summit of Mt. Everest today, May 16, 2007. My boss knows I like to climb that’s why he asked me if I was on top of the Everest news of the 3 Pinay climbers. I’ve been so busy the past few weeks that I haven’t kept track of the news lately.

My boss further asked me if I also aim of climbing Everest. I replied to him that I dream about but I’m not sure if I’m physically fit like them and it costs millions of Pesos to climb Mt. Everest. The permit alone costs US$10,000 then add travel, food, equipment, oxygen, insurance and Sherpa fees. I think I’ll just have to dream about this 🙂

It was May 17, 2006 when the First Filipino, Leo Oracion, summitted Mt. Everest. One year after Leo Oracion, Erwin “Pastour” Emata and Romi Garduce successfully summitted Mt. Everest, it’s the women’s turn to summit the world’s tallest mountain.

I opened the Official Website of the 1st Philippine Mt. Everest Expedition but there was no recent news there. The last news on the site was still April 17. I opened ABS-CBN’s website since they are the one sponsoring and covering the climb and the news was there – Three Pinays on top of the world!

It’s definitely good news! I can’t help but be happy hearing the news that they made it. Reading the news made my spine tingle in excitement for a moment. I’ve met Noelle Wenceslao and Janet Belarmino during the Urban Jungle Race held here in Cebu in 2002 and these girls are definitely very strong. I remember their team was composed of all women and they finished the race in the top 5 (if I remember) beating the other teams who were mostly composed of men. Definitely not an easy feat which only shows how strong they are.

The three girls prepared for the climb for 3-4 yrs I think and now all their hardwork and scarifices have paid off. They have made history by becoming the first ASEAN women to reach the summit of Mt. Everest, the world’s tallest mountain.

Here’s the news of the summit taken from ABS-CBN’s website:

Three Filipinas made history Wednesday by becoming the first ASEAN women to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain.

ABS-CBN Correspondent Vince Rodriguez said Noelle Wenceslao was the first to reach the summit at 6:10 a.m. Nepal time (8:10 a.m. in Manila) followed by Carina Dayondon at 6:20 a.m. (8:20 a.m. in Manila). The two stayed on the summit for 20 minutes, taking photos and admiring the view.

“Naabot na ng Pinay ang tuktok ng mundo (The Filipina has reached the top of the world),” Rodriguez quoted Wenceslao as saying.

The third Filipina, Janet Belarmino, reached the summit at 11 a.m. Manila time. Belarmino was delayed as she had to fall in line because a lot of people wanted to reach the summit.

“The women were going at their own pace. They weren’t all moving at the same time. What happened was – Noelle and Carina actually reached the summit earlier than expected. They reached it at 8 a.m. They were supposed to reach it at 10 a.m. so I think the two other girls were moving a bit faster than Belarmino,” he said.

He said Wenceslao sounded “like an overjoyed kid” when she radioed him about reaching the summit. He added that the three have started their descent on the south side of the mountain.

Rodriguez said the three members of the “Kaya ng Pinay” Everest Team reached Advanced Base Camp at 6,400 meters on Sunday. He said the three Filipinas started their final ascent from Camp 3 at 8 p.m. Manila time.

Health problems

Rodriguez said the climb to the top of the world’s tallest mountain was difficult for the Filipinas. Wenceslao suffered from altitude sickness or pulomonary edema while climbing.

He said the team physician recommended that Wenceslao descend to 5,000 meters for her to recover. All three Filipinas were ordered to stay at Advanced Base Camp for three days to eat, rest and sleep.

The Filipinas are also poised to set another record in Everest history by becoming the first women to have crossed the mountain from Tibet to Nepal. Rodriguez said the women climbed and summitted from the North, Tibetan side, instead of the southeast side in Nepal, a route taken by Filipinos Leo Oracion, Pastour Emata and Romy Garduce to reach the summit last year.

The Nepal side is arguably the more dangerous route because landslides are more frequent on the Khumbu Icefall, a part of the glacier that climbers must cross to reach the summit.

Crossing the mountain from Tibet to Nepal has only been done by a handful of mountaineers â€“ all of them men. The traverse poses a bigger challenge for the women as they will be passing an unfamiliar route to come down the mountain.

Rodriguez said Oracion will be stationed at Base Camp in Nepal to welcome the women and accompany them back to Kathmandu. He added that he expects all three women to reach Base Camp on May 18, Friday.

At 29,035 feet, Mount Everest looms as the ultimate challenge to human endurance. The mountain sits on the border of two countries, Nepal and the Tibetan region of China.